Bubblehead Apocalypse
by AwwsumWaffleQueen
Summary: Its a normal day in the flock's life, involving bombs and chocolate, when things take a shocking turn. Can Max stop the Bubblehead Apocalypse? I suck at summaries, the story's better. Rated T for mild language and paranoia.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: Hello, fellow readers. This is my first Fanfic ever, so no flames, but I would LOVE some constructive criticism. Just to clarify, Max is 16 in this story, Fang is 15, Iggy is 15, Nudge is 12, Gazzy is 8, and Angel is 7. I pretty much ignored the book FANG, because after reading it, the whole book series becomes completely different, and it was hard to construct my story while following the 6th book. So, this story is after MAX. Angel is also the tiniest bit more innocent. Hope you don't mind.

(Made some edits to some things in the chapters that were bugging me. Nothing terribly major. You can read them again if you like, but its mostly just spelling mistakes and sentence flow issues.)

**Disclaimer**: Do I look like James Patterson? Or Scott Westerfeld? No? Darn. Then I guess I don't own this series then..

"Max."

What the.. Who was up at this hour? I rolled over and groaned when I saw the time: 4 AM.

"Is the flock under attack?" I mumbled.

"Well, no, but…"

"Then wake me up at a more sane hour." I pulled the covers over my head and hoped that whatever flock member it was would leave me be. I loved all of the flock to death, of course. I just didn't have enough brainpower to realize that at 4 in the freaking morning.

"I would, Max, but Total won't stop complaining. Iggy and Gazzy set off a German chocolate bomb off that was attatched to his fur."

Sighing, I looked up to see it was Angel that had woken me. Her platinum blond curls were disheveled after sleeping, and her eyes… Crap! Pleading Bambi eyes gazed back at me.

"Ok, ok - I'm up," I said grumpily. "Do I even want to know how they got chocolate to work in a bomb?"

"Not really."

I sighed again, then literally fell out of bed, twisting so I wouldn't fall on one of my wings. Yes, wings. Me, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman and Angel are all mutant bird kids that were created and held by mad (Not angry mad, but… "Muahahahaha!" mad) scientists. They also gave us special abilities, and according to Jeb (Our once father figure, now betrayer), we kept mutating. 'Cause, y'know, it wasn't enough to just make us 98% avian, 2% bird. Now we might grow, like, tentacles or something at any minute.

But we're one of the lucky experiments. Because… we're alive. And not flying, killing Frankensteins bent against our will.

We were staying with Dr. Martinez, a woman I met who just happens to be my biological mother. I guess, if you wanna get technical, Jeb's my biological father. But I'm not gonna start going to baseball games and getting piggyback rides from him now. He betrayed me - betrayed all of the flock. But that's a long story.

No one was out to get us right now, so the flock had unanimously decided to just sit back and chill for awhile. But it turns out that Iggy and Gazzy didn't quite get the term "relaxing". They thought it meant "Blow everything and everybody up since they weren't ready for it." So, I really wasn't surprised by this.

"Incorrigible. Simply incorrigible! You have no respect for Canine-Americans!" Total ranted from the kitchen.

Oh, yeah. Total's our talking, jumping, flying scotti- sorry, Canine-American that accompanies me and my merry band of mutants throughout our various wonderful adventures. Note the sarcasm.

Groaning, I stumbled through the hallways of the warm, cozy house I knew by heart. What I saw in the kitchen was perhaps worth getting up early for, because I'd most likely never see it again.

There was chocolate EVERYWHERE. On the walls, the appliances, the paw prints on the floor, covering Total from head to toe, and splattered all over the 2 mutants in the kitchen. Iggy and Gazzy held expectant, almost frightened expressions on their faces as they got a verbal beat-down from the small dog that couldn't even reach Gazzy's (who is 8) knees.

"When I was dreaming, innocent as anything, you attatched a freaking chocolate bomb on my fur? And then set it off, when I was fast asleep? How the.. Why in the.. What… Where did you even GET German chocolate! How'd you put it in a BOMB? You're INSUFFERABLE!" Total shouted, not even noticing me and Angel in the doorway. He glanced down at his black-turned-poo-colored fur. "I'll finish this when I'm not covered in filth." He glared at them both, and they bowed their heads. "And clean this up while I'm gone!"

Why can't I do that to them? I wondered as Total walked away. The two pyromaniacs immediately started scrubbing various parts of the kitchen. They had a identical looks of shame on their faces, but I think it was more to do with being screamed at by a very small dog than anything else.

"Max, is Total licking that chocolate off?" Angel asked sweetly.

"Uh, I guess so, sweetie. Why?"

"I thought doggies were allergic to it."

Oh, crap.

I ran out the door that Total had disappeared in to see him groaning on a bed. He looked green, if that was even possible.

"MOM!" I yelled. If anything happened to that little furball, Angel would be crushed. "Iggy and Gazzy ... well, you don't wanna know, and now Total's eaten chocolate!"

About 5 minutes later, everyone except Fang and Ella (my half-sister) were standing near the van. Fang was second oldest (at age 15) so he was instructed to by mom watch after Ella, much to Ella's irritation. I could sense her pouting at us through the window.

Mom looked at the flock. "Ok, this is just gonna be a quick trip to the vet's office so I can get some supplies for Total. We'll be back and in bed in about 10 minutes". I had slumped halfway to the car (it was still too early to be up) when Gazzy stopped me. He cocked his ear, almost like a puppy does, and said, "Does anyone hear anything weird?". I did a 360 to find…. Nothing. Absolutely nothing was there. I tried using my raptor vision to find something, but the 2nd examination was the same as the 1st - nothing was there except my mom and the flock. No snipers, no erasers, no bullets, no nothing.

Huh?

"I don't hear anything," Mom said, looking around skeptically. "Oh, well." She moved as if to get in the car, but I motioned for her to hold still. I could hear it now: a very, very faint hissing noise.

The hiss got louder. I looked more closely around us to find that the van was… fizzling. Not like a stick of dynamite or something, it was different. Quieter. A red, pulsing glow began to surround the entire car. And then…

HHRRRAAAAAAAAASHH!

A sort of grinding sound started, and mixed with the fizzling noise. The red glow got bigger, and the van seemed twice its size… before the van's torso expanded outward and … imploded into itself. It was almost like all the after-effects of an explosion - fire, smoke, noxious fumes - had all been directed throughout the whole car but nowhere else, and it ended up being no more than a large lump of twisted, car-shaped metal.

And then, as if things couldn't get weird enough, ALL of the cars in the neighborhood did the exact same thing, only seconds after ours had.

What the hell?

Then Angel gripped my hand and calmly said, "It's time."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: I'm so happy! I got a review! So, now, here's chapter 2. (Wow, I rhymed.) By the way, bold and italicized print in the story means that Angel is talking to someone else in their head.

**Replies**** to Reviewers:**

_UNDERLANDERfromtheOVERLAND_ - Why, thank you! *worships back*

**Disclaimer**: Would I be writing fanfics if I owned these series?

Everything was total chaos.

The neighbors were running around like crazy people, trying to figure out why what their cars had just imploded. The sounds of blaring sirens filled the air as firefighters attempted to put out the flames caused by the chemicals that had detonated, and police tried to calm the panicking civilians down.

"_**Angel," **_I called in my head. Angel can do a whole lot of things - Talk to fish, breathe underwater, influence people, turn into a freaky-looking, oversized bird of paradise. But her main power was mind-reading, and I knew that if I called her in my head, she'd always answer.

"_**Yes?" **_Told ya. Even with everything in complete disarray, she could (somehow) always tell my head's 'voice' apart from everyone else's.

"_**When you said 'It's time', what did you mean? What is it time for?"**_

"_**The apocalypse, Max, I thought it was obvious." **_Obvious? Oh, so sorry that when things start blowing up, I automatically don't think of… Oh, crap, it was a bit obvious. But still.

I ended my convo with her for the moment. I needed to think.

The mad scientists I told you about earlier were most likely behind this car-exploding thing. Those scientists at the School did all sorts of creepy things. They made different experiments - mutants, like us bird kids - so that they could test the boundaries of humanity for preparation of what they had called "The Apocalypse".

I'd never really given much thought to what the apocalypse might be. To be honest, I thought they'd all needed a one-way trip to the wacky shack.

But now, the apocalypse might actually be here. Huh. It made a mutant birdkid think.

"Guys! Come in here, you'll wanna see this," Fang yelled from inside the house. This must be really important - he almost never uses complete sentences. Normally he just used clipped statements that I like to call Fanguage.

Mom was talking to some policeman. The rest of the flock - who had been standing there, staring at the chaotic scene like they could make it disappear if they looked at it hard enough - moved toward the house like zombies. I noticed Nudge was shaking slightly, and I wrapped one arm around her shoulder for comfort.

When we got inside, Fang nodded toward the TV. A news theme song played, but it was drowned out by the siren-sounding noise that accompanied a red alert on the bottom of the screen.

"Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, get into any vehicle or use any appliance that uses, or has ever used, gasoline. This is a very serious situation. If you have used one of these devices, contact your local authorities immediately," A frantic-looking newscaster reported. "Simply say that the EE or Exploding Epidemic has reached your neighborhood." He kept repeating the same thing over and over. Then, suddenly, the man's face changed. He looked incredulous for a moment, before changing his report. "Uh, I have just heard that the government is evacuating every city where the epidemic has spread. If the EE is in your area, find a way to get to the nearest airport or train station, and you will be evacuated.

Apparently the 'EE', as the news called it - was spreading. Fast.

"That is the single most stupid thing I have ever heard of," Iggy murmured, staring unseeingly at the television screen.

I normally am not the brightest Crayola in the box, but I'm pretty dang sure airplanes use gas. And gas is very dangerous right now. So, if you put the U.S.'s population on planes... filled with dangerous gas... Wouldn't that just put the entire U.S. population in danger? It only seemed logical. Maybe I'm biased or something here, 'cause I hate the government, but then again, the flock seemed to have the same reaction. If all the cars, buses, trains, airplanes, and anything else that ever used gas was _blowing up_, you shouldn't evacuate the country by way of cars, buses, trains, airplanes, or anything else that ever used gas. And even if you _did_ evacuate everybody in the world, where would they go? Mars?

I pinched my nose between my fingers and sighed deeply. Fang rubbed the spot between my wings, and I relaxed. A little. Iggy and Gazzy were whispering furiously at one another; trying, I think, to figure out how the EE worked. Ella looked irritated, muttering obscenities under her breath and pacing back and forth. Angel sat perched on the windowsill, looking at the turmoil just outside the house. Nudge was resting on the couch, rubbing her temples as if she had a headache. And Fang… well, you could never tell with Fang. Only his eyes betrayed his uncertainty.

After 5 minutes of watching my flock - my family - I sunk down on the couch next to Nudge. The full weight of the situation finally made an impact. I was supposed to be the strong one in the flock, the tough one, the leader. But I didn't feel like a leader now. If there was nowhere to go, and nothing to fight…

Angel asked my question for me: _**"**__**Max, what on earth are we gonna do?"**_

"_**I don't know, Angel. I really don't know."**_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Hi, everyone. I would've posted yesterday, but I had a huge brain fart when I tried to think of how to do a certain scene in this chapter. I only have the layout down for this story, and I'm winging (no pun intended) the details. I also know that I haven't put in much from the Uglies series yet, but a bit is coming in this chapter.

**Replies to Reviewers:**

_UNDERLANDERfromtheOVERLAND - _Don't panic, they're not gonna die. At least, I hope not.. O_o

_disney-movie-lover_ - Thank you, and I hope more people do read it. I worked hard lol

_The Blind _- Thanks for the criticism, and as for Max's reaction, she's mad because people were following the government's stupid decision like flocks (again, no pun intended) of sheep.

**Disclaimer**: Do I really have to do this for every chapter? *sigh* Fine. I do not own any of James Patterson or Scott Westerfeld's works. Anything that isn't theirs is mine.

It had been a half hour since the EE newscast, and I was no closer to an answer than I was then.

I wearily stared at the ceiling and tried to just think. Where could we go? Where could anybody go? Antarctica was out - I'd seen some huge machines there that Brigid had told me drilled oil. Something that big and man-made had to run on gas. Africa? Nope. There were animal researchers there that kept tabs on lions and stuff, so cars and bush planes were there. The middle of the freaking ocean? No, all of the flock couldn't breathe underwater, and how would we get freshwater?

I sighed and walked outside to find my mom. She was the only one I wanted to talk to right now. Well, maybe Fang too, but he was staring into space at the moment. Probably thinking, like I was.

Mom was pacing now, yelling into a cell phone. She was frowning, the expression contrasting with her normally serene, motherly face.

I tried being patient. I really did. But after awhile, I started tapping my foot and gesturing to her to hang up the dang phone already. After a minute, she hung up, mumbling to herself about 'Incompetent, stupid people' and looking up at me expectantly.

"What was that about?" I asked her. Her face hadn't smoothed out yet, and she still looked really worried.

"The CSM wants to defy the government. They suggested that we get people out of the planes that are evacuating. Preferably before they explode into a million pieces." CSM was short for 'Coalition to Stop the Madness'. It normally did global warming gigs, but I guess this situation qualified for 'Madness'.

"And - lemme guess - they want us to do it," I groaned, thinking about how many fat people in America there were. I was barely 90 pounds at 6", how the heck was I supposed to lift a guy 4 times my size while flying?

"Yes, and I was trying to explain to them how that wasn't a possibility. But they won't _listen_, they're so hardheaded!" Mom exclaimed, sighing and putting on her 'deep in thought' look.

We thought in silence for a minute. 6 mutant bird kids. We could all go to very high altitudes, and were fast. At least, I was. That was my power - I could go at insanely fast speeds in a really small amount of time. I thought about our other powers, but none of them seemed relevant. Fang could become invisible if he was still for a long time, but he wasn't gonna be still, so what was the point? Iggy could sense colors, but that only made up for a weakness - he was blind. Nudge was magnetic, an excellent computer hacker, and could sense emotions on things. Gazzy could imitate voices - I refuse to call his other talent a 'power'. Let's just say he's called The Gasman for a reason. You've already heard Angel's abilities, so what did that leave us with? 6 mutants who could do a whole lotta nothin' right now. Great.

"_Think harder, Max. There's always a way."_

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the Voice. Oh, yeah, I also had a voice in my head. Why it's there and what it's for, I don't know. All it does is drop in at annoying situations and give me stupid fortune-cookie advice that almost never helps. I can't tell if it's a man or a woman or a kid or an evil scientist, all I know is that it gets on my nerves.

"_Oh, wise and powerful voice (Again, note the sarcasm). Tell me what the heck I'm supposed to do! Help me, for once!"_

It didn't respond. Of course not.

I decided that, since this was a dire situation, I might actually listen to it. I thought a bit harder about the flock's powers, since that's when the Voice had so rudely butted in my thoughts. I eventually thought of an idea. I voiced it to my mom, and she agreed it would probably work.

After we got the coordinates of a plane from the CSM, Angel and Nudge could find it. Angel would influence the passengers to be calm and the pilot to sit in a corner or something. Nudge would hack the plane's autopilot, making it go in circles over a clearing where me and Fang waited. I'd speed-fly back up to the plane, make sure everything was going ok, before me and Fang set off one of those huge, emergency blow-up pillow things. On a signal from me, Angel would influence all of the passengers to walk out of the plane's door. Me and Fang would make sure the passengers landed safely on the pillow-thing, and they'd walk right into safety. I hope. Once the plane was evacuated, Iggy and Gazzy would.. ahem… 'dispose' of it once it was far away from civilization, to cover up any evidence we'd been there.

Overall, a decent-ish plan. It was better than my theory with the trampolines. This would've been so much easier if the School had just given us super-strength along with everything else.

~*Hours later*~

"I'm tired," Gazzy groaned, and the rest of the flock agreed wholeheartedly. Even Nudge, who was usually up for anything, looked exhausted.

"This is the last one, I promise, guys. If they give us one more coordinate, I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind," I muttered. My plan went perfectly every time, which was surprising. I expected somebody to miss their cue or something, but everything went smoothly.

But we were tired. Like, really tired. Plus, we hadn't eaten _all day_. I was gonna ask Iggy to make some of his chocolate-chip pancakes as soon as we got home.

I spotted a small speck in the distance. Much too big to be a bird, but kinda small for a plane. Maybe a jet. The flock wordlessly went into positions with noticeably less enthusiasm than the first time we'd done this.

About 5 minutes passed, but the plane hadn't started circling around us yet. Nudge seemed to be taking longer than usual, but she was tired, so I tried being patient.

10 minutes now. I looked at Fang and frowned, telling him without words that I was worried. He seemed to be anxious, too.

15. I decided I'd go see what was taking them so long. I found the small plane easily with my raptor vision. It didn't seem to be getting closer or farther away, though. Just sort of hovering in the same place. I frowned and flew closer to the other plane, really wary now. I couldn't see Angel or Nudge anywhere.

"_**Angel," **_I called in my head.

No answer.

"_**Angel," **_I called again, more urgently this time.

Still no answer. Crap.

I speed-flew to the jet, knocking the top out and looking around frantically… but then I started to feel really sleepy…

I collapsed on the floor of the plane, struggling to keep my eyes open. A man with a white coat came to look at me, and then yelled to some other people.

_No, they can't take me, not again... _I thought weakly as darkness overcame me.

A/N: Maybe I wasn't specific or something, but the jet was supposed to be a very old hovercraft. O_o


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**: Hello, everyone. I am so very, very sorry - I would've updated sooner, but I got a bad cold, plus a killer headache. I couldn't really do anything but sleep, so this chapter is way overdue. I'll post another very soon to make it up to you. ;p

**Replies to Reviewers:**

_UNDERLANDERfromtheOVERLAND - _I'm not evil… why, what do you know? O_O

_disney-movie-lover - _Thank ya. And its fun leaving people with cliffies! They get all mad and excited and stuff.

_The Blind - _The brain fart I mentioned earlier was the action scene. It was _horrid. _I'm a new writer, so I'm still learning my strengths and weaknesses. Guess action's not my strong suit. Whoops. By the way, I get where you're coming from, about the government thing.

**Disclaimer: **Pfft. I _wish _I owned Maximum Ride.

Ugh, my head.

Before I was even fully conscious, I knew my head hurt. Bad. Maybe I'd hit it when I fell, or it might've been the after-effects of whatever they'd used to knock me out, but my skull felt like it had trouble holding my brain. Not pleasant.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a padded room. It was completely white. Blindingly bright lights were everywhere. There were deep gashes on one of the walls where there was a bit of an indentation - probably the door.

There was a girl in the corner of the cell where I was being held. She had short auburn hair and seemed to be asleep. I couldn't see Angel or Nudge anywhere.. Gazzy, Fang, and Iggy had been on the ground when I'd been captured and taken; where they all safe? Was anybody?

I groaned and sat up, noticing a black camera in the corner of the room. It moved as soon as I did.

"Are you gonna tell me where I am?" I yelled. "I know you can hear me, so stop staring at me through a camera lens and come talk to me, face-to-face!"

Silence. Great.

The girl who was asleep stirred, though. She opened her eyes blearily and looked around her in disgust, before turning her attention to me. I raised one eyebrow at her, and she looked surprised.

"Hi," She said, but she made it seem like a question. She had a slight grin on her face. Her eyes were hazel, but the green dominated them, and they seemed to glow.

"Hey. Who're you?"

"Just call me Ser. And you are..?" She cocked her head to the side, looking at me curiously.

"Max. Uh, do you know where the heck we are?"

"Nope. I was hoping you knew," she sighed, stretching her arms over her head and looking around with a bored expression on her face. She relaxed against the padded walls and crossed her legs, appraising me while I searched for an escape route.

"There isn't one, you know," she said matter-of-factly. "I've tried just about everything. No air ducts, no windows. Solid steel walls behind the pads. And a shock bracelet that activates once you go past a certain point. We're stuck here for awhile."

Shock bracelet? Oh, crap. I wiggled the arm that held a brand-new silver bracelet on it. A red light blinked on it every now and then.

Brilliant. Wonderful. Fabulous. Even if I could get out, I'd probably be tailed 'til they trapped me again. Considering I'm not fried to a crisp first.

"Have you seen any of my flock? Anywhere from ages 7-15, pretty tall, have wings on their backs?" Her eyes widened at the wings part, but she shook her head. Good, that means they haven't been taken. I hope.

The door opened, and a tall guy with a lab coat and geeky glasses on stepped in. He had a clipboard in one hand, and began flipping though the pages on it. Finally, he turned to me.

"Maximum, you are being reconsidered. Please follow me."

I snorted. (I'm just so ladylike, aren't I?) If that man thought I was following him, he had another thing coming.

He seemed to sense my thoughts, and took something small and red out of his pocket. Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation, before being shocked. Hard. Every bone in my body seemed to rattle with the sheer force of it. It started at the tips of my toes and ended at the top of my brain, leaving me disoriented and confused.

_**Ow?**_

"Maximum, you are being reconsidered. Please follow me," the lab-coat-guy said. He was expressionless and emotionless, acting like he hadn't just fried my brains._**  
**_

I really, really didn't wanna follow him. But if I sat here, I'd be shocked again, 'til I collapsed in electric goo. So, reluctantly, I got to my feet and followed him out the door.

It wasn't like my tour with Ari all those months ago. There, I'd seen people that couldn't be classified as people, things that would make the toughest macho-man want to run away screaming, things that proved these scientists were Evil with a capital E.

But this tour was much less… macabre. We just went through 2 empty, bright hallways before we came into a big room. There were other experiments there, gathered in a loose circle. The guy in the lab coat pushed me into the circle before leaving.

I glanced around. The room wasn't as brightly lit as the others, and something about the metal walls made it seem strange and sinister. There were air ducts as tall as my waist surrounding the room, and an observation window on one side. The other mutants in the room had expressions ranging from sadness to confusion to hopelessness.

"Get ready, guys," the whitecoat said, watching us from the window. Ready? Ready for what?

"_Max.. Max, go. Run. Get out of there, or you'll regret it."_

"_What do you mean, voice? What am I gonna regret?"_

No answer. I don't even know why I tried.

I did a quick 360. I was on guard now. Nothing happened. No big, scary monster out to get me. No flyboys, erasers, or m-geeks.

I started becoming agitated. Why couldn't people just leave me alone? Why did I have to be thrown into a stupid padded cell with these stupid mutants? Why couldn't the whitecoats just leave me alone?

I grew mad. Then angry. Then furious. A voice in the back of my head - not the Voice, just my common sense - told me it was irrational to be getting so angry over something I had no control over. But I was beyond listening.

My anger rose to the point of rage, and I wanted to hit something. That little voice of common sense started getting worried, telling me urgently to calm down, but I was beyond caring.

My rage turned to burning hate for everything and everything, and I wanted to - no, not hit. I wanted to kill anything that got in my way. My common sense voice was now frantic, trying to stop the bloodlust in me, but I was beyond knowing.

I growled, feral and deep, and before I could stop myself, launched at the nearest mutant.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: Hehe… uh… Hi! How's everyone been? *shuffles feet* Uh… yeah, I have a bit of explaining to do, don't I? School started, and my parents and teachers got on my back on how 'disorganized and lazy' I was. So I had to fix that before I could become un-grounded and update. I apologize to any disgruntled people out there, and I hope you don't have me and you still read. But, hey, I got an A in Algebra 2! XD

_**Please note that updates will be significantly slower now. I'm actually a dedicated student, and as such, my teachers give me tons of homework. T_T**_

By the way, I read over a few of my chapters, and I know that they sorta suck, but I have no clue how to make them better.. =/ If anyone has any pointers they'd like to share, I'd gladly listen. (I normally write better than this, it's just that Max's point of view is so chock full of sarcasm that my own serious-randomness kinda blocks it out..)

**Replies to Reviewers:**

_disney-movie-lover ~ _I thought about keeping her normal, but then it kinda conflicted with my story. People would be like "Huh?" later... And you do so know stuffeths.

_UNDERLANDERfromtheOVERLAND ~ _I didn't mean at that very second, I meant like.. Eventually. O.o Maybe I should've been more specific. I'm not smartical sometimes..

_Emotionalpoemgirl ~ _Phoenixes are kool; nice suggestion. And thank you, but like I said, the story needs a bit of improvement. But, oh well. ^_^

**Disclaimer: **Ok, I wasn't gone that long. I still don't earn Maximum Ride or Uglies.

"Max."

I rolled over and ignored whoever was calling me. Whichever flock member it was could wait.

"Max, get up!" Wait, that wasn't a flock member, was it? This voice was too high..

The last day - the German chocolate bomb, the EE, being captured - all filtered back in my consciousness, and I sat up quickly. Too quickly. What sounded like a prairie dog in pain gave a sharp wail. I realized, after I looked around, that the sound had been me.

"You shouldn't sit up so quickly - you got hit in the head pretty badly when they tried to sedate you," Ser explained calmly.

So that's why my head was throbbing. Again. I did a 360 to find I was back in the white padded room. My clothes were almost completely destroyed, full of deep scratches and flecked with blood. Ser watched me intently from the other side of the room. She held an air of nonchalance, but her eyes showed worry.

"What did they do to me? And how long was I out?" I asked hoarsely. My stomach grumbled loudly, and my throat was parched. I felt like even worse crap then when I'd first gotten up here.

"They did to you what they do to any experiment. Sorta like an introductory course," Ser explained simply. "And as for how long you were out…" She thought for a minute before replying, "I'd say maybe a night and a half. Did you happen to see any of your 'flock' there?" She asked intently.

"Uh, no, all of the mutants I'd seen were strangers," I murmured, not really paying attention. She'd said something about an 'introductory course', but she didn't say what had happened. "When you say an intro course, what exactly do you mean?"

Ser looked at me for a minute, as if deciding whether or not I could be trusted. After a moment, she sighed, her hazely-green eyes closing, and began her explanation.

"Well, every mutant has what the white coats call a 'performance level.' This basically shows them your potential, your powers, and your weaknesses. For example, if a mutant was stronger than anything else in the world, and had no weaknesses, they'd have a pretty high performance level. But to achieve that kind of strength, you're usually gonna be a little bit slow on your feet. So now imagine this same super-strong mutant, but they trip and fumble a lot, and they don't move very fast. This would make them a mediumish performance level. But something that strong is probably heavy, too. So now imagine that, whenever this same super-strong clumsy mutant fell, they'd end up rolling on their backs like a turtle on its shell and would take forever getting up. This would be classified as a failure, or low performance level.

"In your case, the scientists at the school immediately qualified you as a failure. Why? Because you refused to listen to anybody. You were too stubborn. Automatic failure… 'til now. The school just invented a new emotion-changing serum. It's invisible, so you couldn't see it when it went through those big air vents, but it can make you feel any emotion. Basically, they made you hate everything and everyone so much that you just wanted to rip all the other mutants in the room to shreds. They just do this so that you lose your inhibitions. Plus, you're automatically made a non-failure… if you survive.

"If what you say is true and your flock wasn't there, then it probably means they weren't captured. All new experiments go through this study, and they're only scheduled every few days. I'll bet they're in danger, though," she said thoughtfully, staring out into space.

"In danger? Why?"

"Well, from what I heard those science-geeks going on about, you were at the top of their performance level test. You came out with no broken bones, and left everyone else in there with some. The few cuts you received had healed pretty quickly, too. They're gonna be looking for the rest of your flock, to see all of you are as talented as you."

"Why didn't they get Nudge and Angel originally? They were the first ones to come looking for the jet…"

"Because this school isn't like the others. They're smarter. Think of it this way - a bunch of mutant bird kids have, together, escaped any school, science lab, or Itex company they've been to. But 1 mutant bird kid, all alone, in a large, metal cell with no resources is most likely not gonna get out. No offense. Plus, those scientists think of you alone as _trouble_. More of you is just plain torture to them."

"What happened with the EE? Is it still going on?" I asked.

"Max, I'm about as connected to the outside world as you are. I honestly have no clue," said Ser wistfully.

"Why are you here? If you're a mutant, then you look awfully human. And why don't you tell me your real name?"

"I'm here because I was captured, just like you, a few years ago. I am a mutant, it just isn't as obvious as it is in your case. I can bend the elements at my will, but I'm weaker at fire and strong at water. My full name is Serenity Youngblood, and I didn't tell you my full name 'cuz you didn't tell me yours. In that order."

"I'm Maximum Ride.. Sorry, I really haven't told you anything, have I?" I asked sheepishly.

"Not really. And that's a nice name, Max. So, how'd you end up here?"

Everything was about the school that Ser had just told me was swirling in my head. I was worrying about a lot of things, but at the moment, Ser's honesty wasn't one of them. She seemed like a nice person, and I doubted she would turn traitor or anything. I trusted her enough not to ruin my life or hunt my flock. So I started my story…

This was basically a chapter explaining stuff. Kind of a filler, but an important one. Too much dialogue, but oh well. The review button is lonely. Why don't you go hug it?

(BTW, I just finished the anime series of Maximum Ride. Anyone except me think that her hair should be light brown with sun streaks? Or at the very_ least, dirty blonde.. O_o)_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Hi, everyone. The last chapter.. Kinda… sucked, 'cuz I finished it in 2 hours. I really can't find a lot of time to be on the computer in the first place, and I wanted to update in one day, and I had less time then I'd bargained for, so… Anyway. On with the story! I tried a few more writing techniques, and this chapter will be a bit longer than all the others, so… I hope I don't screw it up! XD Also, I apologize about the italics in the last chapter. I didn't notice that 'til it was already published..

Replies to Reviewers

_UNDERLANDERfromtheOVERLAND: _Ok, here are your options. I could tell you, and spoil half of the plot, or I could keep it to myself and leave you suspenseful. O_O Choices, choices...

_emotionalpoemgirl: _Read above, UNDERLANDER's review applies to you, too. ^_^

_The Blind: _I took a meticulously long time on Chapter 4, which is why it was a little better. If my writing doesn't eventually improve, I'm definitely calling in a beta.. lol

_The Souless Wanderer: _Sorry about the Italics; I didn't notice. Again, read UNDERLANDER's review for the spoiler about Ser. I tried to make the padded room as blank as possible, and I can see why that's creepy for some people. There are very small pores around the room that supply oxygen, but no vents or anything.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any character or plot from the Maximum Ride series. The only chars I own are Ser, Denn, and that guy in the white lab coat from Chapter 4.

Over the next week, I fell into a very boring routine. Every single dull day, I'd wake up in the same bright padded room. A little compartment in the room would open, and 2 big bowls of food would slide out. One of them said Youngblood, the other one said Ride. Of course, the compartment would close before we could even think about escaping from it. Ser's bowl usually held a salad, with a side compartment for water. I don't think this school ever really figured out what I ate, though, so my meals were a bit.. strange. There were fruits, flowers, grains, nuts, berries, the ever-present bird seed, and even a few twigs. All things that birds ate. They even gave me a dead rat once! I'll eat fried rat if I'm desperate, but eating them raw? That was going kinda far.

I thought about my flock every single day. Had they been captured by these psychos? Would they? Were they in hiding, or were the still helping stop the EE? Had the government continued its idiotic plan - evacuate people to the middle of nowhere?

I talked to Ser about almost anything. She was a really nice person, and she sympathized a lot with me. Especially with 'The Guy'.

Oh, yeah, 'The Guy' is that guy in the white lab coat I mentioned awhile back. You know, the one that led me to my performance test? Well, he turned out to be a real sicko. Every day, he'd come in, armed with two syringes - one to inject me with a mystery substance, and one to take my blood for a test. If I ever tried to struggle, or hurt him, I'd get shocked. And if I didn't stop after the first time, then I'd get shocked again. And again, and again, 'til I was a heap of smoking jellylike birdkid on the floor. If Ser ever tried to help me, she'd get zapped, too. I fought in the beginning, but after awhile, I just took it. I couldn't prevent it, anyway.

Right now, I was lounging against one of the white padded walls, just relaxing. Ser was next to me, sitting Indian-style. We were talking about how much we missed different foods. There was nothing to do in here other than talk, eat, and sleep. You'd think those scientists could put enrichment activities in here. Like TV.

"I would _love _a cheeseburger right now. With pickles, and mustard, and ketchup," I said musingly. "Oh, wasabi would be awesome, too."

"Wasabi?" Ser asked incredulously. She looked at me with raised eyebrows, a disbelieving smirk on her face.

"Horseradish is _good _on burgers. I tried it accidentally, but its mixes with the cheese and mustard perfectly."

"Uh-huh," she said skeptically. "And I thought french fries with smoothies was bad."

"I tried that one, too, but since the smoothie was kiwi-strawberry, it was gross." I grimaced, remembering the first time I'd eaten that. Let's just say that Iggy wasn't a natural-born cook. He'd had to learn what was where, and when 2 things when the same texture were different. He'd also mixed up the salt and sugar in a fruitcake. I'd been sick for a week.

"You'll have to try strawberry, the salt mixes with the berry to make something like sweet-and-sour sauce. Only better," she mused. She started gazing at the wall opposite us for no apparent reason.

Ser was a really dreamy person. She'd just randomly start staring somewhere whenever she thought hard about something. I'd had to shake her out of it a few times. It was pretty weird, but I was used to it by now. I buried myself deeper in the wall, getting comfortable. I figured I could take a nap or something, since I was bored and had no one to talk to for awhile.

BOOM.

There was a muffled (but still definitely there) explosion in another room. A bomb? An experiment gone wrong?

Everyone was screaming on the other side of the wall. I looked up, my eyebrows knitting together as I tried to figure out what was going on. Ser had snapped out of it, too, and was looking just as confused as I was.

"Contain it! CONTAIN IT!"

"Someone find a sedative!"

"Oh, crap, the Director's gonna be so pissed!"

The pads on the walls.. well… this is gonna sound crazy, but they started _melting_ off. Literally, they were peeling off the walls. Which was.. Odd.

The door burst open suddenly, revealing a tall, muscular man. Well, at least, I'm pretty sure it was a man. It was hard to tell, considering he was covered in _flames_.

I mean it, every single inch of him was covered in fire. There was a bigger sort of blob of white-hot heat in what I think were his hands. Behind him were people - I remembered a few experiments from my performance test. Most of them looked frightened of the fire man, but a couple looked calm. As if a living, moving, breathing flame in the shape of a man was something completely normal.

"Come, young ones," The fire-guy said in a smooth, gentle voice. "We are here to free you from this horrid piece of hell."

I wasn't about to argue with someone who could melt me without a second thought. Ser and I followed him without resistance. He led us through the hallways, sometimes incinerating random people that tried to stop him. I punched a few myself, but the others didn't fight much. He found all the other experiments in the building, and all the coherent ones joined us without complaint.

We reached the ending within 10 minutes. I felt kinda envious of the guy that could clear a school and free everyone in it that quickly. But anyway.

"I am Denn Hunt, and I must find my tribe. These humans - if you can call them human - will be … disposed of. They won't bother you again," he said. He oozed confidence, and no one seemed to doubt him. "Me and my family must leave now. I suggest that, if you have one, you find your own."

And with that, the flames around him became fiercer before shrinking and disappearing altogether. The other ones who had seemed comfortable with him all disappeared, but in a burst of bright light instead of fire. Most of the other experiments darted into the woods without a backwards glance.

"Well.." Ser said wistfully, "I guess it's time to find that flock of yours."

**A/N: **Well, this chapter was longer. A bit. I guess. Well. Anyway. Reviews, please! (BTW, don't actually try horseradish on cheeseburgers.)


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N****: … ***chuckles nervously* Ok, I'm really back now. I've edited a few parts of previous chapters because I didn't like them, but nothing's been hugely altered. Just a couple mistakes I've noticed. I haven't updated 'til June 9th because of school, and after that… well, I was being lazy. And besides, I wasn't precisely sure what I wanted this chapter to be like. I hope people are still with me on this. BTW, there's another Uglie's reference in here… It's not hard to find this time. :/

**Replies to Reviewers:**

**emotionalpoemgirl: I know it's weird. I wrote it, hehe. And I'm glad you like it.**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the series, blahblahblah, yadayadayada, etc. etc. No one actually reads these things anyway. I could start talking about my favorite bands and no one would pay one bit of attention. Let's see, I like Seether, and Green Day, and Linkin Park…

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"Jeez, I wish you could fly."

"Oh, I'm so terribly sorry it inconveniences you that I can't randomly sprout wings and learn to fly on a whim, Max," Ser snapped, stumbling over a tree root. "Besides, even if I could we'd still be in the same place we are now - the middle of nowhere. We haven't seen civilization in days."

I scowled at her, but admitted (In my head - I never admit defeat aloud) that she was right. We must've traveled at least a hundred miles by now, and we didn't see anything that looked like a human might've lived there. And they really might not have. We didn't have a clue where the heck we were.

When we'd first set out in the forest, I'd immediately wanted to go find the flock, but I couldn't just leave Ser in the middle of the wilderness. She had a grand total of 0 survival skills. She was scared when she was alone, and she couldn't hunt anything because she thought everything had a life and family and kids and that killing it just wouldn't be right. Even if she'd wanted to hunt, she was unbelievably clumsy, which made her a slow traveler since she tripped over her own feet all the time. She wouldn't have lasted a day out on her own.

Which led to the above argument, and me complaining about her annoyingly slow pace. It wasn't her fault, really, but I wasn't exactly a happy camper right now. I hadn't had a hot shower in I-don't-know-how-long. My last meal had consisted of a few sticky tree leaves and some raspberries (Or at least, I hope they were raspberries…) two days ago. (A very long time for a mutant birdkid, such as moi.) I'd had a killer headache ever since we'd been broken out of the School. And, to top it all off, we had no clue whether or not we were going in the right direction. Isn't my life just wonderful? Heavy sarcasm.

If I were stronger, (And if I knew for a fact that Ser wouldn't puke all over me) I would've just flown us outta here. But with aforementioned headache and less-than-stellar diet, I wasn't really up to it. I planned - despite Ser's protests - to actually hunt something later today. It was probably gonna be futile, but maybe I'd get lucky.

A few hours later and Ser was dead on her feet. I told her to set up camp ("Camp" was actually just a fancy name for a crude fire and some pine needles or leaves or something of that nature spread out into a makeshift bed. Yay.) and that I'd be back later. She'd nodded sleepily and was out within minutes. Despite everything, she had a contented smile on her face.

I set out into the forest, hoping to find something that was small and sorta easy to catch. I moved as silently as I could in the scruffy underbrush, looking and listening for any sign of anything I'd have a chance in hell of taking down in in my state. So far, no such luck.

I was just about to turn around and go back - I'd been out here for an hour or two, and I was as tired as Ser had been - when I heard something. A whooshing sound.

… A whooshing sound?

I decided to check it out before I crashed. Maybe it was a stream or something like that, and I really did need a good scrubbing.

I tiredly made my way through the close-packed trees, reminiscing over the old days with my flock. Yeah, we had been running for our lives, but at least we'd been together. I wonder who's leading them now. Either Fang or Angel. As weird as it sounds, Angel really wants to command the flock, for a reason I can't entirely understand. Oh, well - hopefully Fang's the leader. He's the more reasonable of the two, and he'd prevent them from doing anything too rash.

I finally reached the source of the noise - not a stream as I'd thought, but river rapids declining down a mountain slope. They were beautiful; their white waves crashed into each other and parted around the gray rocks that jutted out from the shallower waters. Occasionally, a shiny flash of silver or copper would catch my eye in the dim light of the fading sunset.

I gawked at the scene for awhile, entranced in its beauty. Looking around, I spotted the calm within the storm - a serene, perfect-sized little nook behind a rock.

Grinning, I glanced around once, stripped off my dirty clothes, and cannonballed into the middle of the river's niche. I bathed, swam around, and managed to get most of the grime out of my clothes. Then I floated suspended in the water, the cool temperature of it doing wonders for my headache.

Eventually my growling stomach and exhaustion couldn't be ignored. Sighing, I dragged myself to the shore. I shook like a dog, and looked around for a bit of moss or a leaf I could dry myself off wi-

Oh, crap.

Bear. Big bear. Very big bear, staring right at me, 8 yards away.

_Run! _My common sense yelled at me. _C'mon! Adrenaline, fight-or-flight! You can't fight this thing, so get outta there!_

I fwipped out my wings as the bear started toward me and shot straight upward in the air… only to drop back to earth like a rock. _I'm too wet, I can't fly, _I panicked.

The bear was close enough now that I could see its maddened eyes. I tried to run… only to be swiped on the leg by its huge paw and fall to the ground again. It whacked me again, this time drawing blood from my chest to my knee. I hopelessly tried to hit it, but I was weaker than I thought. _Note to self: Revise diet._ The bear stood up, drew back, and hit me in my already throbbing head. And, for the 3rd time that week, everything went black.

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**A/N**: Uh... am I getting any better at writing? At all? o.o Please review...


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: Yes, this is late. No, I'm not gonna elaborate on why. It's stupidity, and lateness. I would've posted yesterday, but… aforementioned stupidity made it impossible. I'll try to be more punctual later. This chapter is also not as good as the last one, in my opinion. *shrug*

Also, I got reviews! Reviews I don't deserve since I was so dang late on this! T_T

**Replies to Reviewers**

UNDERLANDERfromtheOVERLAND: Thank you for telling me to get off my butt to update it, lol!

IFoxx: Thanks. I always find something wrong with my chapters after I post them. But, oh well.

emotionalpoemgirl: I know, right? Poor Max.

Inkmoon: Thanks, and I'll try to update more often.

Scream with Me6577: Thank you! And it's nice and flowing _because_ it's short, lol. I have a short attention span.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing, blahblahblah.

* * *

I yawned widely, snuggling deeper into the covers and clinging tightly to a plushy pillow.

… Wait a minute, this isn't right. The last time I've slept on a bed was before-

I gasped as my memory returned to me, and shot out of the bed in record time. The only thing that kept running through my mind was _'This isn't right, this isn't right…'_

I was in a very luxurious room. The bed dominated most of it - it was a canopy bed. You know, one of those beds that only royalty and really spoiled teen girls have. There were piles of pillows and silk sheets on it. Huge clouds of lilac gossamer floated down to the floor. There was a gigundo flat-screen TV on the opposite wall of the bed. Some of the gossamer from the bed made a doorway to a walk-in closet that I could see had tons of clothes in it.

Speaking of clothes, I should've been naked from my river bath earlier. But I was in an white satin nightgown that was very soft without being too warm.

The room would normally have been comfortably expensive; classy without being over-the-top. If it weren't for the creepy vibes coming from just about everywhere, I would've liked it.

I took a deep breath, let it out, and started to think. Thinking relaxed me; it made me believe I was doing something, even if I really wasn't.

This was too real to be a dream, and I was too conscious to be knocked out. There wasn't a logical way I could've gotten here, so…

My thinking was interrupted when a girl pranced in the room. Yes, I said _pranced_. She had the biggest smile on her face when she saw me, and she skipped/ran right next to me and gave me a bear hug that crushed my ribs.

"Oh, Max, can you believe it? I can't believe this turned out so awesomely! Can you?" she gushed, bouncing up and down enough to make me dizzy. She looked at me expectantly, probably waiting for me to answer her question, but I just stared at her for a few minutes before I finally spoke.

"Am I dead?"

"No, silly!" she gasped, putting her hand over her mouth as though the thought repulsed her. "But you will be if you're late again. Come on, let's get you dressed!"

"Wait- where am I- who-?" I spluttered.

"No time for that, Max, we're gonna be late!" she squealed. I decided to call her White Rabbit from now on, since she reminded me of that rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

White Rabbit dragged me into the walk-in closet and literally yanked my nightgown off, leaving me in - well, nothing. She paid no attention to my naked form or the incredulous look on my face or my _wings_; she just started sifting through the closet's contents.

"Aha! Perfect. I am a genius, if I do say so myself," she murmured to herself. She glanced at me, then at the lilac dress she'd picked, then at me again. "Lift your arms," she commanded. When I just stared at her, she sighed dramatically and approached me slowly.

… I'm gonna skip this next part. Let's just say that 5 minutes later I was in that lilac dress, feeling very violated and very frightened of White Rabbit.

"Comeoncomeoncomeon!" she yelled, dragging me out of the disturbing room into an eerie hallway. The luxurious elegance became an intimidating aura that hung over the hard marble floors and life-like suits of armor.

White Rabbit kept tugging me 'til we reached the end of the hallway. She opened a lone door and pushed me through it, whispering a quick 'Good luck' before sprinting away.

The room was decorated like a mix of the hallway and bedroom's styles - comfortable enough to make you feel at ease, but threatening enough to scare any thoughts of rebellion out of your head. It was decorated in warm, comfortable, relaxing colors - but the suits of armor still lined the walls. There was a high-tech sound system in a corner that played classical music. The floors and walls were made of marble, and a mirror dominated one of the walls. People were gathered in loose groups, clad in dresses and tuxedos, chattering amongst themselves as if a shell-shocked teenage girl with wings hadn't just been shoved through the door.

I decided to ask someone what I was doing here. Just standing here wouldn't help me. I warily approached a woman with bright red hair and dark eyes. She barely gave me a second glance at first - but then she did a double take, and squealed with delight.

"Oh, my goodness, it worked! It worked!" she shouted. "It worked, everyone! It worked!"

And all of a sudden everyone in the room was clapping and cheering and shouting and I was being passed around and congratulated and admired and I just wanted to go _home._

"Wait, I- I just need to-" I tried to protest, but they either didn't hear me or didn't want to. Someone squeezed me tightly in their arms, then passed me to someone else, who kissed my cheeks, who passed me to a third person, who ruffled my hair-

"STOP IT!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Everyone became motionless, and the only sounds left were my words echoing off the walls. "What the hell am I doing here?" I asked the suddenly silent room.

No one answered. A few people shuffled their feet and someone coughed.

"Well?"

I think I heard crickets chirping in the distance.

Then someone finally came forward. A boy. He had blonde hair and blue eyes and he was one of the prettiest people I'd ever seen. He wasn't dressed like everyone else, but I hardly noticed… I was too focused on his perfect pretty eyes, and his perfect child-like lips, and his perfectly disheveled hair, and his perfect perfection and how I would give anything for someone who was so perfect.

He took my hand - this made me ridiculously giddy - and led me to the other side of the room. People parted for us like the red sea, as if they couldn't touch his flawlessness for fear of screwing it up with their own faults.

He dropped my hand - I nearly sobbed at the loss - and gestured to the large mirror on the wall.

I saw his perfectly perfect perfection and the other people's expectant faces. I saw a few suits of armor and that music system. And I also saw a girl. She had hair that looked both brown and blonde, and eyes the color of chocolate. Her lips were even plumper than the boy's, and her body could make any model's jealous. She stood, a little stooped, with a confused look on her face. I stared at her.

And I stared. And I stared. And then I finally got it.

The girl in the mirror was _me._

I gasped, stumbling away from the mirror. I was becoming lightheaded… the people around me became distorted, from the perfect boy to the eccentric redhead… I saw WhiteRabbit, bouncing up and down… I saw the faces of my flock and Ser… everything melted and froze together…

I fell through the marble floor. I fell until I couldn't fall anymore.

And I landed, just in time to wake up.

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Review please! I have a feeling this one sucked. Hope it didn't!


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